Cleaning up rust on parts without a blaster... what do YOU use?

I picked up some muriatic acid, some distilled water, some brushes, gloves, masks, and some oil last night to start cleaning up my block and stuff.

Just curious what you guys use?

Here's an example of the results I get with this stuff....

This is with a few seconds of scrubbing with the brushes with pure muriatic acid:



This stuff LOVES to eat paint, rust, scale, anything it can get onto so be careful!

Cylinder wall:



Like I said, it's pretty damn abrasive.

If you decide to give this a try get the aformentioned stuff. You can get everything at Home Depot.

Get a bucket to put your acid in. A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY!!!!

Remember to put on your mask. The fumes from this shit will make your lungs burn like hell.

Dip your brush and start scrubbing.

When you think you've got the result you want, take a rag and wipe it off really well.

Assuming it's good take another rag and a bucket with distilled water and baking soda (mixed) and wipe some of this over the area you just cleaned up. This will help neutralize the acid. Then, let it dry. Wipe it really well to get it as dry as possible.

Once it's really dry, take a small amount of oil and wipe it around the are you cleaned. This will help keep the elements away from the metal and keep it from re-rusting again.

***NOTE: Muriatic acid CAN pit metals if left on there too long... not to mention that if you don't neutralize the acids they will cause "flash rust" within a day or two at the most. ONLY USE IN A VERY WELL VENTILATED AREA!!!!!!***

****** ONE MORE THING! DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, TRY TO USE MURIATIC ACID ON ALUMINUM!!! That is... unless you WANT it to be eaten away quickly....******

 

I would find and make friends with someone who had the equipment I needed. I would go to an engine rebuilder and get them to hot tank that block because it does a great job and not abrasive. I did my engine block this way and it came back like new. Some jobs are better done by a pro and the cost is not all that high by the time you buy all the stuff you need it is a small differance. Hot tank gets in places you cant. Good luck and happy motoring. John

 

I've heard of molasses (sp?), but this looks like it would be perfect for your steel wheels and axles. I think I'd leave my engine to the pros, but there's so much other stuff this would work on. Thanks for the info.......slim

 

Toilet bowl cleaner has muriatic acid in it....I have seen people use it... I haven't tried it personally. I do know the rust converter they sell for $$$ has muriatic acid as the base for the solution.... It smells like the toilet bowl cleaner.. EVILT

 

I simply use a wire cup brush on a grinder - and elbos grease - leaves shiny clean metal ready for paint.

makes your hands tingle and you get lots of little wire projectiles stuck in you - but it is good and does not leave a chemical mess and doean't burn your ass

 

What does your garage floor look like under where you were working? Muratic acid also eats concrete. It works good, just be cautious.

 

vinegar works AMAZING on rust, i posted about it before... but you would need a large container (vinegar is like $1.25 a gallon here)... if you could find something big enough that would be the battle..

for an engine i would hot tank it... not worth the risk... and its not THAT expensive i dont think

 

I guess my question is - if you're not totally going to disregard the EPA, how do you dispose of the acid when you're done? Do you just neutralize the whole kit and kaboodle and chuck it in the trash, or what?

 

I would be afraid that the acid would harm the metal you are cleaning. Not so much the outside of the block but the cylider walls Id leave that to the dudes who know what they are doing. Besides they have are responsible if they make a mistake not you. I dig the piece of mind I guess

 

use the molassis trick ask rocky he did an experiment several years ago.

 

OH - I forgot - JUST POUR GIBBS ON IT

 

I'm with Tudor on this one wire brush elbow grese and most of the time those pesky little wires only stick in your skin a little ways.

 

There have been several threads on using vinegar. Do a search on "vinegar".

Here are a couple:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95404&highlight=vinegar

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=72425&highlight=vinegar

 

I have tried the muriatic acid trick before as a rubbermaid dunk tank, mixed it 3-1 with water, it works great but I found that even after nuetralizing the acid with a water/baking soda dunk, I would get tiny blisters in the paint months after from the acid coming out of the pores of the metal. I have since tried the electrolysis method with a battery charger, and found that it works great. There were a few threads about this a couple of years ago if you do a search, also here is a good site about it http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

There are pros and cons to every way, I suggest you try a few and see what suits you best, they are all fun.

 

Naval Jelly works great, kinda messy to use then wipe with a wet clean cloth and should have it cleaned up .Make sure you read directions

 

Good for heavy thicker metal,like brackets. I sandblast in a cabinet. A buddy of mine (Ken) found a less hassle way of sandblasting parts. He throws ABC (sand/gravel) into a portable concrete mixer throws in the parts and lets them turn. Noisey as hell, but saves wear and tear on your compressor. Although I wouldn't recomend it for your engine blocks.

 

Naval Jelly is the ONLY thing I would/will use.Muratic acid will harm the metal by makeing it brittle,not to mention the problems with painting over it.(see above post)The active ingrediant is phospheric acid,and amond many other things,it is made to remove rust.It WILL NOT neutralise rust,and neither will any thing else,no matter what the lable says.The only way to "neutralize" rust is to remove it.JMO.....mabey it will help someone.

 

I use phosphoric acid 5.00 for a gallonat home cheapo.Thats all i use and its the main ingrediant in naval jelly.

 

Yep,that was my point.BTW....sorry for all the typ,Os^

 

I have had the EXACT same results.. and now I have 1/2 a gallon of muratic acid to dispose of..


electrolysis works alot better.. and if you use rebar as the anode. its relatively safe...

 

I would not recommend to much muratic acid. Breathing too much of it and will all be wearing our key boards out on how nice a guy you use to be. That stuff will eat your lungs quicker than you can sign in on the hamb. not to mentin that the fumes will attack and rust every thing in the shop. trust me i speakl from experience. we use it to clean concrete off concrete forms and mixer trucks. the phosphoric is probably a littile safer.
take it as advice and do as you please, its not worth cutting your life short over.

 

You know, as someone who studied more than my share of chemistry I can tell you that there's no reason to think that working with chemicals will definitely cause you physical harm. I agree that caution needs to be taken, but I think you are overplaying it. For starters, anyone who is stupid enough to work with chemicals without any form of respirator on is a moron. Secondly, as I mentioned in the original post, ventilation is key. Cross drafting works well, because you can have the fumes draft away from you the entire time that you are working.

Now, I can see where you may think that this stuff will kill you, but it won't. A little knowledge and common sense goes a long way.

Don't believe me if you don't want to though... just talk to some chemists who have been mixing chemicals with toxic fumes for decades of their lives, and are doing just fine in terms of their respiratory systems because they did everything safely and properly....

PS: To be honest with you, I'm personally more worried about the effects of inhaling fumes from welding than I am of the negative effects of working with chemicals safely...

 

I'm not sure I'm understanding why rebar would be any safer than anything else?

 

we've used all sorts of acids to clean dirty molds at work, and the one thing we've learned is this...don't use acids to clean steel...it's a waste of time, since it's a BITCH to try and neutralize everything that soaked into the steel and it'll just continue rusting away even underneath cosmoline and other types of protectants...if I got a block that needs to be cleaned, I pay the 50 bucks and have it hot tanked and magnafluxed and paint it when it gets home...I'm lazy like that...

 

i've used spray on oven cleaner, which works good for surface rust.

-scott noteboom

 

if I recall correctly..
stainless steel anodes introduce chromium into the solution.. chromium in waste water = BAD..


rebar works better anyhow..

 

I use Limeaway. You would be surprised how fast and how good this stuff works. I use it on old carbs and they come out looking new best part is this stuff is cheap.

 

What I'm asking is, why would rebar work better than an actual steel anode made specifically for this for example? Not all anodes are stainless steel you know....

You can use rebar, but why bother?

Plus, anodes are like $3.00 apiece. Hardly a bad investment.

 

Basically, there's more than one way to skin the cat...

 

White vinegar is great for small stuff. A wire brush on an angle grinder along with oil ( yeah, I use gibbs )works great too, for things like this steering box and column I just did.